Intermittently reversing control valve



March 11, 1969 H. A. TIDD INTERMITTENTLY REvERsING CONTROL VALVE FiledMay 26, 1966 INVENTOR.

HOWARD A. T/DD United States Patent() 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE An intermittently reversing control valve having a pistonwhose vertical motion is transferred and converted into rotary motion ofthe control member thereby switching the ow from one to another of aplurality of outlets.

My invention is directed toward valves for controlling the flow of wateror other liquid supplied thereto in pulsations from a pump or the liketo anyone of a plurality of outlet ports, each port being connected to acorresponding outlet line. These valves are known as intermittentlyreversing control valves.

Accordingly, it is an object of my invention to provide a new andimproved control valve of the character indicated wherein in response tothe liquid pulsations, the liquid is fed successively to each of saidports in turn.

Another object is to provide a new and improved control valve of thecharacter indicated which is particularly adapted to supply water from asingle source to a plurality of sprinklers or sprinkler systems.

Still another object is to provide a new and improved control valve ofthe character indicated which is fully automatic, yet contains a minimumof moving parts and is economical to manufacture and maintain.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of myinvention will now be explained with reference both to thisspecification and to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 -is a side view in cross section of my valve;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a valve dish used in my valve;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a piston together with an overlying triggermember as used in my valve;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a nut used with the member FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view of a modified trigger member; and

FIG. 6 -is a top view of another modification of the trigger member.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown an upright hollow housing 10having an upper hollow cylindrical chamber 12 -with rst and second ports14 and 16 disposed along the vertical periphery, communicating with thechamber and spaced apart by a 180 arc.

A hollow vertical cylinder 18 open at both ends communicates at its topend with the bottom of the chamber and is adapted for connection at itsbottom end to a pump or other source (not shown) of pulsating liquidsuch as water.

The top of chamber 12 is vented to the atmosphere by vent 20. A verticalrod 22 aligned with the aligned axes of chamber 12 and cylinder 18extends upward therethrough, having a rst stop 24 secured thereto in thechamber and a second stop 26 secured thereto adjacent the bottom end ofthe cylinder. The rod is rotatable about its own axis and carries aperipheral spiral portion 28 adapted -to rotate the rod through a 180arc as explained below.

Cylinder 18 contains two oppositely disposed vertical side rails 30which engage corresponding slots 32 in a horizontal disc plunger piston34 having a central opening through which the rod extends. The lowersurface of the piston supports secured Ithereto a vertical hollowcylinder 3,431,933 Patented Mar. 11, 1969 ICC 36 mounted about the rod.A trigger member 38 rests on the top surface of the piston, and engagesa stop 40 on this top surface. This member is at, narrow, horizontal andelongated and has a central square hole 42 through which the rodextends. A nut 44 disposed about the rod rests on top of member 38.

An inverted hollow cone shaped valve dish 46 open at its bottom end issecured at its vertex to the top of rod 22 and is rotatable therewith,the axis of the dish being aligned with :the rod. Disc 46 has anaperture 48 which is either aligned with port 14 and seals port 16 or isaligned with port 16 and seals port 14 depending upon the rotation ofthe rod.

When the pressure of the liquid such as water is increased lby the pumpthe water forces the piston and trigger upwards to the first stop 24, atthe same time rotating the rod through 180 by virtue of engagement ofthe square hole in the trigger member with the spiral portion of therod. At this point, since ythe rails extend above the top end of thecylinder as shown in FIG. l, the water can flow through chamber 12,aperture 48 and its aligned port. When the pressure drops, the pistondrops by gravity to the second stop 26 and the member 38 spins freelydown along the rod, Without rotating same to change its position, anddrops behind stop 40 to be in position to again rotate the rod when thepressure rises, thus continually producing the desired indexing action.

The above structure can be readily modified for use with three portsspaced 120 apart by using a 120 spiral on the rod and substituting thetriangularly shaped at trigger member 38A in FIG. 6 for the member 38 ofFIGS. l-4. Also, it can be modi-lied for use with four ports spacedapart by using the square shaped trigger member 38B (FIG. 5) and using a90 spiral on the rod.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to thedrawings, my protection is to be limited only by the terms of the claimswhich follow. In particular, the valve may be provided with two or moreopenings, as may be desired.

Having thus -described my invention, desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An intermittently reversing control valve comprising an uprighthollow housing having an enlarged upper chamber With a plurality ofports equidistantly spaced apart along the vertical periphery of thechamber and communicating therewith and a vertical hollow cylindercommunictaing at its top open end with the bottom of the chamber andextending downward to a bottom open end adapted for connection to awater pump, a vertical rod rotatable about its own axis and extendingupward through said cylinder and said chamber, said rod being coincidentwith the axis of said chamber and having a spiral peripheral portionadapted for rotating said rod through a predetermined angular arc, saidrod having a rst stop secured thereto and disposed in said chamber and asecond stop secured thereto adjacent the bottom end of said cylinder, aninverted cone shaped hollow valve `dish sealed at its apex to the top ofsaid rod and rotatable therewith, the axis of said dish being coincidentwith said rod, said dish having an aperture adapted for indexingregistration in time sequence with each of said ports in turn wherebythe dish simultaneously seals all other ports, a horizontal disc plungerpiston in said cylinder and having a central hole through which said rodpasses, means on said piston and on the inside of said cylinder toprevent said piston from rotating about said rod whereby when water ispumped upward into said cylinder pulsatingly by said pump, the plungerpiston periodically rises on said rod to a rst level determined by saidrst stop and thereafter falls by gravity to a lower second leveldetermined by said second stop, the disc preventing water from ilow- Iclaim as new and ing through said chamber and through the registeredaperture and port except when said piston is at said first level, andsecond means on said piston adapted to engage said threaded portion ofsaid rod to rotate same and provide the indexing action when said pistonis rising from said second level to said first level -and to bedisengaged from said spiral portion and thus not rotate said rod whensaid piston falls from the rst level to the second level.

2. A valve as set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of ports isequal to two, said ports being separated by a 180 arc, said threadedportion being adapted to rotate said rod through a 180 arc.

3. A valve as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are three ports, eachtwo adjacent ports being separated by a 120 arc, said portion beingadapted to rotate said rod through a 120 arc.

U.S. C1. X.R.

